Wen Healthy Haircare Review

THis review just came in from one of my favorite reviewers, my sister Nelly. Since this product has been so heavily advertised, I thought you might loke to know what she thought: "I was so excited to try this line of hair products, mainly the cleansing conditioner. It's a one step product that cleanses and conditions (hence the name!). Wen claims that ordinary shampoos which lather strip the hair of natural oils and dry your hair out. So with this product, your hair should be bouncy and shiny and beautiful with no products in it at all! Although, he does have a styling creme and texture balm that you can use, too. It's supposed to be great for all hair types. Of course, the informercial had celebrities in it that raved about the stuff. Anyway, I tried it on myself and my three girls. And we never looked worse. Our hair was big, and slightly frizzy, except for Alex's which was just bigger and a little more flyaway because her hair is straight. It did not work at all for us. But it did smell good and our hair was super soft!"

In other words, don't skip the styling products. And if it sounds too good to be true... Fortunately, they have a money back guarantee!

Sheer Cover Mineral Foundation Review

I'd almost given up on mineral makeup, as my early experiences were dismal failures. I started, as everyone seems to, with Bare Escentuals, but found it to be too thick, maskline, and virtually impossible to apply naturally. Then I moved on to the new Mary Kay mineral powder foundation, which had the exact opposite problem. It's light and weightless, but with almost no coverage, it's best used as a powder and not as a foundation. I also tried Neutrogena's version, which comes in an applicator brush that you are supposed to dab on to dispense the product. I'd like to tell you what I thought of it, but since I was never able to actually get any of the product out, I have no idea if it's any good or not. Finally, my sister handed me a small jar of Sheer Cover in Medium/Tan Almond, because the color wasn't right for her. It rolled around in the bottom of my diaper bag for months (okay, so I didn't clean it out as often as I should have!) before I finally decided to give it a try. What a surprise! It's light enough to be goofproof, and never looks masky or heavy, but it delivers flawless even coverage. I use my Bare Escentuals kabuki brush to apply it, and in seconds my skin looks even, fresh, and natural. Recently, my cousin stopped by, took one look at my skin and asked me how I got it to glow like that. And I told her about the Sheer Cover. Just like in a cheesy infomercial. Also, the price can't be beat. $29.95 gets you the whole intro kit, with more than enough product to last a few months. So, don't give up on mineral makeup before you give this a try. You'll thank me!

Response to One Anti-Aging Product Under $100

To the reader who asked if I could recommend a single product, under $100, that will firm the skin and help with wrinkles, the answer is yes. I would definitely recommend a prescription retinoid, like Retin-A or Renova. These products change the way your skin functions, and can dramatically improve the look of wrinkles. My ideal anti-aging skincare regimen would involve an AHA product and a sunscreen with antioxidants or a sunscreen and a separate antioxidant product, like Prevage, in the morning, and a retinoid at night. Simple but effective! Sunscreen is most important when it comes to wrinkle prevention!

Mary Kay Beauty Party

Interesting how, when you decide to start working on yourself, opportunities arise. Tonight I attended a Mary Kay beauty party hosted by my sister. One of our mutual friends is a Mary Kay consultant. It was fun to sit around Nelly's dining table with a group of women, giving ourselves skin treatments and makeovers. I haven't spent that much time on my makeup in a long time. I even used lipliner! Here's what we tried:

Time Wise Microdermabrasion Set, $55: This works like similar sets on the market, with two steps: a scrub with tiny little crystals, and a moisturizer. You definitely notice a difference when you use one of these products, but it is not at all comparable to microdermabrasion. It's just like a really good scrub. It does rinse away easily and cleanly, though, with no residue. The serum-type moisturizer is nice, though, if your skin is oily. It's not heavy at all.

Satin Hands: Love this, although you could accomplish the same effect with a less expensive product. It's essentially a hand scrub and a very thick ointment-style hand cream that are massaged in together and then rinsed away. You then follow with a regular hand cream, which would be nicer if it had SPF. A regular body scrub and some vaseline would have the same effect, but still it's nice.

Satin Lips Set: Another exfoliant, this time for the lips, followed by an petroleum-based lip balm. This works well enough, but I prefer using a warm wet toothbrush and vaseline, since I don't particulary like the feeling of a scrub on my lips.

I did fall in love with a few products, though:
Mineral Powder Foundation in Beige 1, $16: The perfect color for me - it covered well while looking very natural, and not cakey at all, like many others can be, even when applied with a cotton ball.

Nourishing Lip Gloss in Beach Bronze, $13: I love the creamy texture and high shine (but not too much shine) of this metallic flecked gloss.

Berry Kiss Lipstick, $13: Again, I love the texture. It's very creamy and moisturizing. This is the color I wish my lips were naturally.

Golden Copper Blush, $10: A bronzey, coppery blush with some shimmer that gives skin a flattering glow.

Day 2

Today I washed my hair and went out to dinner with my husband - a small miracle. Other than that, I didn't do anything else on my list. It was one of those days... I did, however, let my husband (almost) convince me that it wouldn't kill my daughters if I left them for an hour twice a week to go to a yoga class. So my goal is to take a class before the week is up.

Tomorrow, I will pick apart my body for the world to see, so I can track the progress that hopefully I will be making soon!

Day One (Continued)

As promised, here are the pictures. They speak for themselves, although I will be listing all of my issues tomorrow..





And here are my responses to the Day One questions from Dr. Oz's Anti-Aging Plan:

1. Real Age: 38.6. (Boo hoo... My biological age is not yet 38 since my birthday is next week!)
2. Blood Pressure: Mine is always very low, like 90 over 60.
3. Heart Rate (resting): 84 (but I was feeling a little stressed)
4. Waist: 26.5 (3-4 inches bigger than usual, not that I'm counting. It's still pretty good considering the goal is for your waist to be less than half your height. At 5'2", my height is 62")
5. Number of steps I take this week: TO COME. I will start wearing my pedometer tomorrow.
6. Medical Tests: TO COME
7. Life Questions:
Are you living life from (A) fear or from (B) passion? A
Are you playing life (A) to avoid losing or (B) to win? B
Are your goals based on (A) preserving the status quo or (B) achieving growth? B
Are you happy most of the time? yes
Are you as happy now as you were 5 years ago? yes
Are you still expecting much from life? Yes, although my goals are changing after the birth of my daughters
Do your days seem to be passing quickly? yes - most days race by in a blur of activity!
Are you often sad less than 10 percent of the time? yes
8. Ask three strangers how old you are: Will do this tomorrow.
9. Ask your friends what your three biggest strengths are. Identify how you best use them. Again, I will do this tomorrow.
10. Ask yourself this simple question: How have you aged over the last five years? Use a picture to compare how you looked between then and now. Your initial thought:
A. My oh my, I look like I did in high school, dahling.
B. I'm steady Eddie—about the same.
C. I'm about what you'd expect—little fatter, little wrinklier, and little more worn down.
D. I look like tree bark.
My answer is B. Although I think I look better than I did in high school (big hair, round face) I definitely don'tn look younger.
11. Ask yourself this: What activities did you do five years ago that you can't do today? None
12. Ask yourself these big-picture stress questions, which can help you identify things to work on while using our program:Is your perceived level of stress more than you enjoy? Remember that actual stress is a more predictable driver of aging than our perception of stress, so push yourself to be honest with yourself. Do you control most of the stress in your life or are you a rat in someone else's experiment?
Answer: I think I am doing well with my life, stress-wise. Nothing I can’t manage. And I feel that I am largely in control of my own life, except for the constant but amazingly fulfilling demands of motherhood.

Day One of Dr. Oz Anti-Aging Plan

Okay, today I had my husband photograph me in my bright orange Rosa Cha bikini - the one I bought for a trip to Hawaii before I had my babies. As usual in these situations, there were some pleasant surprises and some not-so-pleasant ones. You'll see when the picture is posted tomoorrow... (Unfortunately, my husband/webmaster informed me that posting the picture is not as quick or easy as I thought it would be). I will pick myself apart, so you can see what I will be working on.

So to get you started, I decided to post the first day of the anti-aging plan here, for those of you who want to join in. (If you're as busy as I am, it might actually take you two days to get through this... it's a little long). I will post my own answers over the next couple of days...

1. Get out and go shopping! Buy these items, which should run you less than $125.
A tape measure
A heart-rate monitor (We use Polar products—they have chest straps and monitor watches)
A pedometer
A good pair of walking or running shoes
A hand-grip tester
A blood pressure cuff (Many have memory and download options…or you can use the one at the drugstore)
A notebook or access to computer website to record your results
2. Determine your real age at RealAge.com—that is, the actual age of your body (and mind) based on your health and habits, not your calendar age based on when mama thrust you into the world covered in goop.
3. Measure your blood pressure. Most drug stores have a device that can be placed on your arm if you haven't bought the home device yet.
4. Measure your heart rate in the evening, as well as the highest heart rate you achieve during your most intense exercise.
5. Measure your waist size. Circle the tape measure around your waist at the belly button, while you're taking a deep breath and sucking in. You would anyway, but it is the right way of measuring it as it gets the muscle we do not want to measure out of the way. Also measure your weight. The ideal is for your waist to be half your height.
6. Leave a space to record the average number of steps you take this week.
7. Make a doctor's appointment so you can get the medical tests you need.
8. Answer these questions.
Are you living life from (A) fear or from (B) passion?
Are you playing life (A) to avoid losing or (B) to win?
Are your goals based on (A) preserving the status quo or (B) achieving growth?
If you answered (A) to any of them, it's an indication that you're not moving forward in life. Remember, the only times that your vital signs are completely stable are when you're dead. Like sharks, we need to keep moving in order to live fully.
9. Ask yourself these questions to really determine whether you're really happy.
Are you happy most of the time?
Are you as happy now as you were 5 years ago?
Are you still expecting much from life?
Do your days seem to be passing quickly?
Are you often sad less than 10 percent of the time?
We obviously want you to have positive answers for these questions. If you're not there, our program, as well as professional help, can help you get there.
10. Ask three strangers how old you are. Asking friends and family doesn't count, since they either know or have a vested interest in not hurting your feelings. This will help give you some kind of baseline as to how others perceive you—based on appearance and demeanor—and can be a strong indicator of how healthy you actually are. In addition, you can ask a friend you trust to be honest with you about how you are aging compared to others.
11. Ask your friends what your three biggest strengths are. Identify how you best use them.
12. In your notebook, draw a little box with an amoeba that fills up 70 percent of the box, but also goes outside of the box. The box is your job, and the amoeba is you. The empty spots in the box are where we often focus all of our effort, but perhaps you should focus on the part of the amoeba that lies outside of the box, as this represents your strengths.
13. Ask yourself this simple question: How have you aged over the last five years? Use a picture to compare how you looked between then and now. Your initial thought:
A. My oh my, I look like I did in high school, dahling.
B. I'm steady Eddie—about the same.
C. I'm about what you'd expect—little fatter, little wrinklier, and little more worn down.
D. I look like tree bark.
14. Ask yourself this: What activities did you do five years ago that you can't do today?15. Ask yourself these big-picture stress questions, which can help you identify things to work on while using our program:
Is your perceived level of stress more than you enjoy? Remember that actual stress is a more predictable driver of aging than our perception of stress, so push yourself to be honest with yourself.
Do you control most of the stress in your life or are you a rat in someone else's experiment?